The proposed new CNRU Retinoid Analysis Core Laboratory builds upon a long established laboratory in Department of Pharmacology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Dr. Lorraine J. Gudas was recruited in 1991 to Weill Medical College to be the Chairman of the Pharmacology Department. Dr. Gudas has extensive research experience in the areas of retinoid (vitamin A and its derivatives) pharmacology and molecular biology. Her more recent studies in collaboration with clinical investigators such as Dr. David Nanus, the Head of the Urological Oncology Program at Weill Medical College, provide a beginning link between basic research and the clinical applications of the research in the area of cancer prevention. To reach the goal of understanding retinoid functions, various cell culture models depicting the process of carcinogenesis and cultured cells from various human tumors are employed. In addition, various animal models of the process of carcinogenesis, such as a murine model for the development of carcinoma of the oral cavity, are currently in use in the laboratory. Treatment with retinoids can prevent the process of carcinogenesis from occurring in some cell types, and retinoids such as retinoic acid (RA) and anhydroretinol (AR) can also inhibit the growth of various types of human and murine tumor cells. The metabolism of pharmacological doses of retinoids such as retinoic acid is studies in these animal models and in the cultured cells. The molecular mechanisms by which retinoids act to inhibit tumor cell growth are currently under investigation in the laboratories of both Dr. Gudas and Dr. Buck.
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